4 replies to this topic

[CurLeyGirlie]

I'm so glad I found this site!  I'm going to start the process soon of weaning myself off C and wondering if it is reasonable to immediately reduce the dose from 90MG per day to 60MG per day, followed by a schedule of weaning by a percentage (1% or so) every 3 to 5 days.  Has anyone tried to go from 90 to 60 and then wean off from there?

 

I've been on a 90MG dose for about 5 years for chronic neck, shoulder and upper back pain.  I had also been on hydrocodone/Vicodin for the pain until early December 2015 when I was able to wean myself off.  I'm still on a muscle relaxer (Soma), gabapentin and ambien - all taken at bedtime to deal with the pain and insomnia.  I hope to eventually get off everything and deal with the pain in a more healthful way.

 

Thanks much!

 

CLG

 

[brzghoff]

Hi there!

 

while i was able to drop from 90 to 60 with no problem, and again a year later from 60 to 30 with no problem, the typical experience is much different and not recommended. at the time, i didn't know any better and got lucky. my problems started with doing the every other day thing at 15 mg (i split 30 mg caps in half by dumping out about half the beads)

[fishinghat]

Brz got it right. Some have successfully done what you describe and others couldn't handle it. I might add that you can drop from the 60 to 30. The withdrawal symptoms would typically hit in a few days to a week, If things get rough you can always go back to 60 mg until stable (a week or two) and then start bead counting.

[CurLeyGirlie]

Thanks much.  Has anyone had any luck checking into a detox facility?  

[lady2882Nancy]

Hi CurLeyGirlie

 

Most of the detox facilities I have heard for getting off Cymbalta have done the detox much too quickly and left the person having to then deal with getting off other meds or are fine when they leave the facility only to have everything fall apart for them within the week of leaving so personally I do not think too much of trying to do the rapid detox with Cymbalta.

If you are one of the unlucky ones who has a hard time with withdrawal symptoms then I would be very careful as to going into a facility because if you do not recover within their timeframe then they will say that it just shows that you need to stay on this medication.

You would have to see what kind of detox they offer for this drug specifically and how long they expect it to take then decide for yourself if that was a route you want to try.

We are each different and our recovery from using Cymbalta and withdrawing from it can vary from mild flu like symptoms for a few weeks to major meltdowns that take us a year or more to recover from. All I can say is that from my own experience it is best to be patient and take your time to avoid the worst of the withdrawal.

 

Take care of you

Nancy